shew forth such an Heavenly light of holinesse puritie majesty authority efficacy mercy wisedome comfort perfection in one word such an unsearchable Treasurie of internall mysteries as that now the soule is as fully able by the native light of the Scriptures to distinguish their Divine originall and authenticalnesse from any other meere humane writings as the eye is to observe the difference betweene a beame of the Sunne and a blaze of a Candle The second question is how the Soule comes to bee setled in this perswasion that the goodnesse of these truths founded on the Authority of God doe particularly belong unto it Whereunto I answere in one word That this ariseth from a two-fold Testimonie grounded upon a preceding worke of Gods Spirit For first the Spirit of God putteth his feare into the hearts of his servants and purgeth their consciences by applying the bloud of Christ unto them from dead workes wish affections strongly and very sensibly altering the constitution of the minde must needs notably manifest themselves unto the soule when by any reflex act shee shall set her selfe to looke inward upon her owne operations This being thus wrought by the grace of God thereupon there ensueth a twofold Testimonie The first of a mans owne spirit as wee see in the examples of Iob David Hezekiah Nehemiah Saul and others namely That hee desireth to feare Gods name to keepe a conscience void of offence to walke in all integrity towards God and men from which and the like personall qualifications arise joy in the holy-Ghost peace of conscience and experience of sweetnes in the fellowship with the Father and his Sonne Secondly the Testimony of the holy Spirit bearing witnes to the sincerity of those affections and to the evidence and truth of those perswasions which himselfe by his grace stirred up So then first the Spirit of God writeth the Law in the heart upon obedience whereunto ariseth the Testimony of a mans owne spirit And then he writeth the promises in the heart and by them ratifieth and confirmeth a mans hops and joyes unto him I understand not all this which hath been spoken generally of all assents unto objects Divine which I take it in regard of their evidence firmnes and stability doe much differ according unto the divers tempers of those hearts in which they reside but principally unto the cheife of those assents which are proper unto saving Faith For assent as I said in generall is common unto Divils with men and therefore to make up the creature of true Faith There is required some differencing property whereby it may be constituted in the entire essence of saving Faith In each sense we may observe that unto the generall faculty whereby it is able to perceive objects proportioned to it there is annexed ever another property whereby according to the severall nature of the objects proposed it is apt to delight or be ill affected with it for example our eare apprehendeth all sounds in common but according as is the Harmony or discord of the sound it is apt to take pleasure or offence at it Our taste reacheth unto whatsoever is the object of it but yet some things there are which grievously offend the Palate others which as much delight it and so it is in Divine assents Some things in some subjects bring along with them tremblings horrors fearefull expectations aversation of minde unwilling to admit or be pursued with the evidence of Divine truths as it is in Divils and despayring sinners Other assents on the contrary doe beget serenity of minde a sweete complacency delight adherence and comfort Into the hearts of some men doth the Truth of GOD shine like Lightning with a penetrating and amasing brightnes in others like the Sunne with comfortable and refreshing Beames For understanding whereof wee are to observe that in matters practicall and Divine and so in all others though not in an equall measure the truth of them is ever mutually embraced and as it were insolded in their goodnes for as truth doth not delight the understanding unlesse it be a good truth that is such as unto the understanding beares a relation of convenience whence arise diversities in mens studies because all men are not alike affected with all kindes of truth so good doth noe way affect the will unlesse it be a true and reall good Otherwise it proves but like the banquet of a dreaming man which leaves him as hungry and empty as when he lay downe Goodnes then added unto truth doth together with the assent generate a kinde of rest and delight in the heart on which it shineth Now goodnes Morall or Divine hath a double relation A relation unto that originall in dependency on and propinquitie whereunto it consilleth and a relation unto that faculty or subject wherein it resideth and whereunto it is proposed Good in the former sense is that which beares in it a proportion unto the Fountaine of good for every thing is in it selfe so farre good as it resembles that originall which is the author and patterne of it and that is GOD. In the second sense that is good which beares a conveniency and fitnes to the minde which entertaines it good I meane not alwayes in nature but in apprehension All Divine truths are in themselves essentially good but yet they worke not alwaies delight and comforts in the minds of men untill proportioned and fitted unto the faculty that receives them As the Sunne is it in it selfe equally light the water in a Fountaine of it selfe equally sweete but according unto the severall Temper of the eye which perceiveth the one and of the vessell through which the other passeth they may prove to be offensive and distastfull But now further when the faculty is thus fitted to receive a good it is not the generality of that good which pleaseth neyther but the particular propriety and interest thereunto Wealth and honor as it is in it selfe good so is it likewise in the apprehension of most men yet we see men are apt to be griev'd at it in others and to looke on it with an evill eye nothing makes them to delight in it but possession and propriety unto it I speake here onely of such Divine good things as are by God appointed to make happy his creature namely our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ his Obedience Satisfaction Resurrection Ascension Intercession Glory and whatever elce it is of which he hath been unto his Church the Author Purchaser conveyer and Foundation Now unto these as unto other good things there is a double right belonging by free donation from him unto the Church a right of propriety unto the thing and a right of possession in the thing This latter is that which here in Earth the Church suspireth and longeth after that other onely it is which here we have and that confirmed unto us by a double Title The first as the Land of Cannan was confirmed unto the Israelits by
Schisme but that as at all times so much more then wee should all thinke and speake and doe the same things least the manner should oppose the substance of the celebration Lastly if we consider the very act of eating and drinking even therein is expressed the fellowship and the union of the faithfull to each other for even by Nature are men directed to expresse their affections or reconcilements to others in feasts and invitations where even publique Enemies have condescended to termes of fairenesse and plausibility for which cause it is noted for one of the Acts of Tyrants whereby to dissociate the mindes of their Subjects and so to breake them when they are asunder whom all together they could not bend to interdict invitations and mutuall hospitalities whereby the body politicke is as well preserved as the naturall and the love of men as much nourished as their bodies And therefore where Ioseph did love most there was the messe doubled and the nationall hatred betweene the Iewes and Aegyptians springing from the diversity of Religions whose worke it is to knit and fasten the affections of men was no way better expressed than by their mutuall abominating the tables of each other So that in all these circumstances we find how the union of the faithfull unto each other is in this holy Sacrament both signified and confirmed whereby however they may in regard of temporall relations stand at great distance even as great as is betweene the Palace and the Prison yet in Christ they are all fellow-members of the same common Body and fellow-heires of the same common Kingdome and spirituall stones of the same common Church which is a name of unity and Peace They have one Father who deriveth on them an equall Nobility one Lord who equally governeth them one spirit who equally quickneth them one Baptisme which equally regenerateth them one faith which equally warrants their inheritance to them and lastly one sinew and bond of love which equally interesteth them in the joyes and griefes of each other so that as in all other so principally in this divine friendship of Christs Church there is an equality and uniformity be the outward distances how great soever Another principall End or Effect of this holy Supper is to signifie and obsignate unto the Soule of each Beleever his personall claime and title unto the new Covenant of Grace We are in a state of corruption sinne though it have received by Christ a wound of which it cannot recover yet as beasts commonly in the pangs of death use most violently to struggle and often to fasten their teeth more eagerly and fiercely where they light so sinne here that body of death that besieging encompassing evill that Cananite that lieth in our members being continually heartened by our arch enemy Satan however subdued by Israel doth yet never cease to goad and pricke us in the eyes that we might not looke up to our future Possession is ever raising up steemes of corruption to intercept the lustre of that glory which wee expect is ever suggesting unto the Beleever matter of diffidence and anxiety that his hopes hitherto have beene ungrounded his Faith presumptuous his claime to Christ deceitfull his propriety uncertaine if not quite desperate till at last the faithfull Soule lies gasping and panting for breath under the buffets of this messenger of Satan And for this cause it hath pleased our good God who hath promised never to faile nor forsake us that wee might not be swallowed up with griefe to renew often our right and exhibite with his owne hands for what is done by his Officers is by him done that sacred Body with the efficacy of it unto us that wee might fore-enjoy the promised Inheritance and put not into our chests or coffers which may haply by casualities miscarry but into our very bowels into our substance and soule the pledges of our Salvation that wee might at this spirituall Altar see Christ as it were crucified before our eyes clinge unto his Crosse and graspe it in our armes sucke in his Blood and with it salvation put in our hands with Thomas not out of diâ—â—idence but out of faith into his side and fasten our tongues in his sacred wounds that being all over dyed with his Bloud wee may use boldnesse and approach to the Throne of Grace lifting up unto heaven in faith and confidence of acceptance those eyes and hands which have seene and handled him opening wide that mouth which hath received him and crying aloud with that tongue which having tasted the Bread of Life hath from thence both strength and arguments for prayer to move God for mercy this then is a singular benefit of this Sacrament the often repetition and celebration whereof is as it were the renewing or rather the confirming with more and more seales our Patent of life that by so many things in the smallest whereof it is impossible for God to lye wee might have strong consolation who have our refuge to lay hold on him who in these holy Mysteries is set before us for the Sacrament is not onely a Signe to represent but a Seale to exhibite that which it represents In the Signe wee see in the seale wee receive him In the Signe wee have the image in the seale the benefit of Christs Body for the nature of a Signe is to discover and represent that which in it selfe is obscure or absent as words are called signes and symboles of our invisible thoughts but the property of a Seale is to ratifie and â—o establish that which might otherwise bee uneffectuall for which cause some have called the Sacrament by the name of a Ring which men use in sealing those writings unto which they annexe their trust and credit And as the Sacrament is a Signe and Seale from God to us representing and exhibiting his benefits so should it bee a signe and seale from us to God a signe to separate us from sinners a seale to oblige us to all performances of faith and thankfulnesse on our part required Another End and Effect of this holy Sacrament was to abrogate the Passeover and testifie the alteration of those former Types which were not the commemorations but the predictions of Christs Passion and for this cause our blessed Saviour did celebrate both those Suppers at the same time but the new Supper after the other and in the evening whereby was figured the fulnesse of time that thereby the presence of the substance might evacuate the shadow even as the Sunne doth with his lustre take away all those lesser and substituted lights which were used for no other purpose but to supply the defect which there was of him The Passeover however in the nature of a sacrifice it did prefigure Christ yet in the nature of a Solemnity and annuall commemoration it did
man it setteth him on worke to manifest Christ unto others as Andrew to Simon Iohn 1. 41. and the Woman of Samaria to the men of the City Ioh. 4. 29. and Mary Magdalen to the Disciples Ioh. 20. 17. It is like Oyntment poured forth which cannot be concealed Proverb 27. 16. Wee cannot saith the Apostle but speake the things which we have heard and seene Acts 4. 20. And they who feared the Lord in the Prophet spake often to one another Mal. 3. 16. These propositions being thus set downe let the conscience assume them to it selfe in such demands as these Doe I finde in my selfe a Freedome from that spirit of feare and bondage which maketh a man like Adam to fly from the presence of GOD in his Word doe I finde my selfe able with affiance and firme hope to fly unto God as unto an Alter of refuge in time of trouble and to call upon his Name and this not onely with an outward battology and lipp-labour but by the spirit to cry Abba Father doth the testimony of Gods Spirit settle and compose such doubtings in me as usually arise out of the Warre betweene Flesh and Faith doe I finde a change and transformation in me from the vanity of my old conversation unto the Image of Christ and of that originall Justice wherein I was created doe I finde my selfe distinguished and taken out from the World by Heavenly mindednes and raised affections by renouncing the delights abandoning the corruptions suppresing the motions of secular and carnall thoughts solacing my soule not with perishable and unconstant contentments but with that blessed hope of a City made without hands immortall undefiled and that fadeth not away doe I finde in my heart an habituall tendernes and aptnes to bleed and relent at the danger of any sinne though mainly crossing my carnall delights and whatever plots and contrivances I might lay for furthering mine owne secular ends if by indirectnes sinfull engagements and unwarrantable courses I could advance them doe I finde my selfe in reading or hearing Gods Word inwardly wrought upon to admire the Wisdome assent unto the truth acknowledge the holines and submit my selfe unto the obedience of it doe I in my ordinary and best composed thoughts preferre the tranquility of a good conscience and the comforts of Gods Spirit before all out-side and glittering happines notwithstanding any discouragements that may bee incident to a concionable conversation Lastly are the graces of God operative and stirring in my soule Is my conversation more heavenly my zeale more fervent my corruptions more discovered each faculty in its severall Sphere more transformed into the same Image with Christ Iesus Are all these things in me or in defect of any doe the desires and longings of my soule after them appeare to be sincere and unfeigned by my daily imploying all my strength and improving each advantage to further my proficiencie in them Then I have an evident and infallible token that having thus farre partaked of the spirit of Life and by consequence of Faith whereby our soules are fastned unto Christ I may with comfort approach unto this holy Table wherein that life which I have received may be further nourished and confirmed to me The second medium formerly proposed for the tryall of Faith was the nature and essence of it To finde out the formall nature of Faith we must first consider that all Faith is not a saving Faith For there is a Faith that worketh a trembling as in the Divels and there is a Faith which worketh life and peace as in those that are justified Faith in generall is an assent of the reasonable soule unto revealed truths Now every medium or in ducement to an assent is drawne eyther from the light which the obejct it selfe proposeth to the faculty and this the blessed Apostle contradistinguisheth from faith by the name of light or else it is drawne from the authority and Authenticalnes of a narrator upon whose report while we relie without any evidence of the thing it selfe the assent which we produce is an assent of faith or credence The Samaritans did first assent unto the miracles of CHRIST by the report of the woman and this was faith but afterwards they assented because themselves had heard him speake and this was sight Now both those assents have annexed unto them either evidence and infallibility or onely probability admitting degrees of feare and suspition That faith is a certaine assent and Certitudine rei in regard of the object even above the evidence of demonstrative conclusions is on all hands confest because howsoever qantum ad certitudinem mentis in regard of our weakenes and distrust wee are often subject to stagger yet in the thing it selfe it dependeth upon the infallibility of Gods owne Word which hath said it and by consequence is neerer unto him who is the Fountaine of all truth and therefore doth more share in the properties of truth which are certainty and infallibility then any thing proved by meere naturall reasons and the assent produced by it is differenced from suspition hesitancie or dubitation in the opinion of Schoole-men themselves Now then in as much as we are bound to yeild an evident assent unto the Articles of our christian Faith both intellectuall in regard of the truth and fiduciall in regard of the goodnes of them respectively to our owne benefit and salvation Necessary it is that the understanding be convinced of those two things First that GOD is of infallible Authority and cannot lie nor deceive which thing is a principle unto which the light of nature doth willingly assent And secondly that this Authority which in Faith I thus relie upon is indeede and infallibly Gods owne Authority The meanes whereby I come to know that may be eyther extroardinary as revelation such as was made to prophets concerning future events or else ordinary and common to all the Faithfull For discovery of them we must againe rightly distinguish the double Act of Faith First that Act whereby wee assent unto the generall truth of the object in it selfe secondly that Act whereby we rest perswaded of the goodnes thereof unto us in particular with respect unto both with these doth a double question arise First touching the meanes whereby a beleever comes to know that the testimony and authority within the promises and truths of Scripture hee relieth upon are certainly and infallibly Gods owne Authority Which question is all one with that how a Christian man may infallibly be assured ita ut non possit subesse falsum that the holy Scriptures are the very dictates of Almighty God For the resolution whereof in a very few words wee must first agree that as noe created understanding could ever have invented the mystery of the Gospell it being the counsell of Gods owne bosome and containing such manifold wisdomes as the Angels are astonished at So it being dictated and revealed by Almighty God such is the deepnes